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Pentax D FA* 50mm f/1.4 - development annoucement
#41
        Pentax is a brand that played a huge part in my life.........right from my Pentax Sa1......at that time the M42 screw mount ruled the roost, as young not so rich hippies, this standard mount was so ubiquitous you could just grab a mates 135mm tele lens at a party and snap away with it, everyone had that mount!   So Pentax has gone from having the easiest lens mounts to find for your body..........to one of the rarest out there with Pentax's output at around a lens every two years. 
    This is where the perception of Pentax changed......from the easiest to find lenses........to their now 'hens teeth range"

  The question is what went wrong?   
       Who within Pentax decided to go the cheaper route and let Canon and Nikon take the professional market share with a fully equipped range of lenses, flashes and accessories.  In the meantime Pentax decides to do away with it's premium lenses, like the FA 600, the FA 200-400mm F5.6......Pentax had great lenses.......in the real actual world!!  

  So Kunsite, I don't want to take the "jam" out of your doughnut..... but I do want to see things in perspective, Pentax had it all....the lot!  but they blew it, somebody who was at the helm at that time made a spectacular job of effing up one of the most successful camera companies in the world....."from riches to rags".
   So no, I don't feel in the slightest bit guilty expressing how I feel Pentax is behaving and towards it's new (FF) customers, at this point in time in the industry it is obvious we are at a ML crossroads, where the DSLR will play a more and more insignificant market role........and Pentax in it's infinite wisdom decides that one FF lens every two years will get the job done!........ML will just steamroller the market before Pentax has a chance to delay it's next DA 85mm portrait lens.(can you believe that Pentax hasn't a current  85mm portrait optic?).

   The latest FF DSLR offering the K1 II, promised super low noise at crazy ISOs, with hand held pixel shift and an accelerator chip......all in all a minor update, but an update nonetheless........
         ...unfortunately, it turns out when DPReview tests the camera they find that this accelerator chip produces smearing and a sort of chequered banding, it's a downgrade and there's no way to turn off the NR........so obligatory noise reduction from 400 ISO up that in fact reduces detail......the hand held pixel shift was a sneaky trick, it isn't PS at all, merely stabilized camera image stacking, slow and with little IQ improvement  ......the AF-C has by all accounts seen improvements however!

DPR recommended the Mk I model for astro-photography and where detail is king.


Does anybody understand Pentax's business philosophy?

      .......Pentax has now been bailed out twice..........

       ..........well, you know what they say?    

      .........................third time and your out!!!!
Dave's clichés
#42
Wow, Pentax board / thread is the most lively in the entire forum. Smile
I'm interested in how it turns out for the brand, as competition and innovation is good for the entire realm. However I am/was glad that I never took this route - I did hop on the Minolta bandwagon when the writing was already on the wall and getting rid of the entire inventory was no fun. I've always been supporting the underdogs (say, my favourite Black Sabbath vocalist is Tony Martin) but when I have to really, really put my money where my mouth is... I'm no longer so sure. Smile

The irony is, while I could have trudged through as a Sony A / Pentax shooter, I would've probably relied mostly on third party lenses, most importantly those from Sigma, because especially with Pentax the native lineup is/was so penurious (and even those Sigmas are rare in these varieties).
#43
(07-03-2018, 12:31 AM)JJ_SO Wrote:
(07-02-2018, 05:41 PM)Kunzite Wrote: But - we were talking about Sigma cameras here. Are you saying it's stocked everywhere? That it has a larger user base than Pentax K? What exactly are you doing with this discussion, besides hating Pentax?

No, you are talking about Sigma cameras and their insigificance in photomarket. I was only mentioning an interesting, but super heavy 50 mm prime. And of course, it's always entertaining to see the only Pentax user in this forum defending "his" brand against everything which looks even remotely like a bit of critique. Acting like a berserk, no sense of humor at all and jumping into rampage mode at lighting speed. "Hating" Pentax? Are you insane, man? This brand IS too insignificant to activate any kind of hate. Regret or pity, yes, but hate? For what? For being late to all parties?

And about which Leica DSLR MF are you having fantasies? No, spare your time. There's no Leica MF DSLR in production and the R9 was FF
Hmm... you said "Even Sigma as the least important camera manufacturer managed to come up with two mirrorless types.". Did you forget that?

Wow, you were saying something about "rampage mode"? That's not how you convince people that you don't hate Wink

I'm talking about the Leica S, of course.

(07-03-2018, 10:13 AM)Rover Wrote: I am/was glad that I never took this route
The waiting game can be pretty tiresome at times. And the countless attacks from bored people with nothing better to do Wink

(07-03-2018, 07:21 AM)davidmanze Wrote: Pentax is a brand that played a huge part in my life.........
Irrelevant.

(07-03-2018, 07:21 AM)davidmanze Wrote: The question is what went wrong?
Is this a discussion about Pentax' distant past?

(07-03-2018, 07:21 AM)davidmanze Wrote: So Kunsite, I don't want to take the "jam" out of your doughnut..... but I do want to see things in perspective, Pentax had it all....the lot!  but they blew it, somebody who was at the helm at that time made a spectacular job of effing up one of the most successful camera companies in the world....."from riches to rags"
I do see things in perspective, better than you I'd say - and it's not your perspective (which is what you really want, right?).
You're talking about things that started happening before Hoya, even before there was a Pentax Corporation. If anything, with products like the D FA* 50mm f/1.4 Ricoh is trying to recapture part of the past glory.

(07-03-2018, 07:21 AM)davidmanze Wrote: Does anybody understand Pentax's business philosophy?
Yes. It's clearly spelled by the D FA* 50mm f/1.4.

(07-03-2018, 07:21 AM)davidmanze Wrote:  .......Pentax has now been bailed out twice..........
No, they weren't even once. Get your history right, please.
They were almost killed by a hostile takeover, though.
#44
(07-03-2018, 12:31 AM)JJ_SO Wrote: And about which Leica DSLR MF are you having fantasies? No, spare your time. There's no Leica MF DSLR in production and the R9 was FF

Leica S. Medium format. Barely.
#45
(07-03-2018, 11:02 AM)Kunzite Wrote:
(07-03-2018, 10:13 AM)Rover Wrote: I am/was glad that I never took this route
The waiting game can be pretty tiresome at times. And the countless attacks from bored people with nothing better to do Wink
[quote pid='44807' dateline='1530615757']

    So can the dying of old age waiting for stuff to turn up!

(07-03-2018, 07:21 AM)davidmanze Wrote: Pentax is a brand that played a huge part in my life.........
Irrelevant.
   
      ..it's relevant to me and the millions of others who were there supporting the brand many of whom still are.......if you think that is irrelevant, it just shows how little you value the millions of M42 and K mount lenses that Pentax still court great importance to today.....you are the expert on official Pentax marketing.
    Pentax counted on legacy lenses for the K1!

(07-03-2018, 07:21 AM)davidmanze Wrote: The question is what went wrong?
Is this a discussion about Pentax' distant past?
Yes, past present and future!

(07-03-2018, 07:21 AM)davidmanze Wrote: So Kunsite, I don't want to take the "jam" out of your doughnut..... but I do want to see things in perspective, Pentax had it all....the lot!  but they blew it, somebody who was at the helm at that time made a spectacular job of effing up one of the most successful camera companies in the world....."from riches to rags"
I do see things in perspective, better than you I'd say - and it's not your perspective (which is what you really want, right?).
You're talking about things that started happening before Hoya, even before there was a Pentax Corporation. If anything, with products like the D FA* 50mm f/1.4 Ricoh is trying to recapture part of the past glory.

Like on all my school reports..........must do better!

(07-03-2018, 07:21 AM)davidmanze Wrote: Does anybody understand Pentax's business philosophy?
Yes. It's clearly spelled by the D FA* 50mm f/1.4.
 
   What one standard focal length lens? Good though the lens may be!

(07-03-2018, 07:21 AM)davidmanze Wrote:  .......Pentax has now been bailed out twice..........
No, they weren't even once. Get your history right, please.
They were almost killed by a hostile takeover, though.
  
 We know Hoya wanted the Pentax medical division, but not the camera division, they creamed the best and sold on the rest. Ricoh stepped in.   We will probably never know the ins and outs!
[/quote]
Dave's clichés
#46
@davemanze: it's irrelevant in the sense that you being a Pentax user ages ago has nothing to do with the truthfulness of your claims.

Hoya got Pentax Corporation through a hostile takeover, which itself was only possible because they had an accomplice in one of Pentax Corporation's major shareholders - SPARX (a financial shark) - and also the support of the Pentax' CEO.
Pentax Corporation was profitable at that moment, and just started being serious with their DSLR line (it happened as they launched the K10D and were building the DA line). They fired the CEO, tried to resist the takeover, but ultimately failed.
Hoya cut down their momentum - in a moment when the market was growing fast - and almost killed Pentax Imaging Systems through cost cutting and downsizing. A lot of things that should've happened years ago didn't happen under Hoya - the ring-type SDM motors, the FF, improved AF, a properly maintained lens line... those were just not an option, as Hoya started looking for a buyer as early as 2009 and was cutting down on investment.

To say that Pentax Corporation needed to be "saved", or that they were "bailed out" is untrue. Hoya almost killed Pentax.
#47
Well I believe you for sure..if by that you mean that Hoya refused to invest while looking for a buyer?.....no company is going to destroy a business that it hopes to sell, Hoya didn't want to spend out all the investments knowing the return would be three or so years later......
.although looking and reading through, I could find nothing relating to the details other than an attempted block of shares, some "save pill" share scheme which allowed existing share holders to buy shares at low market prices to increase the value of the company....then the takeover..... the track is hard to follow.............
...........will you settle for saved once. LOL?

If only you being right meant that Pentax will soldier on..........
Dave's clichés
#48
I didn't want to quote the above post but....

Perhaps what went wrong (short version) digital age.

(slightly longer version): I think they chose to focus on medium format cameras rather than slr which had more competition (canon, nikon, minolta, olympus, ........). I never really looked at earnings but naively it seemed they did fairly well with medium format cameras. However when the digital age arrived they were ill prepared to either adopt their medium format cameras competitively or focus on slr/aspc market. I can't say for sure what happened in that area but it feels like it had more to do with digital age than lack of focus on slr market earlier. I mean a lot of companies really suffered with the arrival of digital age. Olympus was able to piggy off their scope market (shared technology); nikon partner with sony; canon is huge and even they have suffered in recent years with regards to sensor (or at least the ones found in their cameras - though rumours suggest some really good stuff in the labs). Also i'm not familiar with corporate rivaries in japan but it seems like you either had to partner with sony or have a huge enterprise (canon) to do it on your own (i know this is not strictly true as others developed their own sensors initially).
#49
Then there was the Samsung interlude!
Dave's clichés
#50
(07-03-2018, 06:46 PM)davidmanze Wrote: Well I believe you for sure..if by that you mean that Hoya refused to invest while looking for a buyer?.....no company is going to destroy a business that it hopes to sell, Hoya didn't want to spend out all the investments knowing the return would be three or so years later......
.although looking and reading through, I could find nothing relating to the details other than an attempted block of shares, some "save pill" share scheme which allowed existing share holders to buy shares at low market prices to increase the value of the company....then the takeover..... the track is hard to follow.............
...........will you settle for saved once. LOL?

If only you being right meant that Pentax will soldier on..........
Yes, you can say that Hoya refused to invest while looking for a buyer. They were always talking about cost cutting, downsizing and their ever-precious margins - no hint of long term thinking there.
And we can see how, after the 2008 spike - lenses prepared by Pentax Corporation - the lens development slowed to a grinding halt. They even canceled existing projects like the DA* 30mm and the long telephoto.
That left the Pentax line largely neglected. Still with film-era lenses, still with SDM micro-motors on the "top" lenses, with screw drive on many others, still with no FF. Far from saving, Hoya left Pentax in a sorry state.

OTOH Ricoh took over on 1st October 2011 - this is the 7th year of ownership. The market started to decline right after that and strategies have to be adjusted; but it's past time to see some speed. (Are you reading this, Ricoh? We're still here, ready to support said 'speed' with our money).

The only saving that took place was for Ricoh to take over from Hoya. Otherwise I'm afraid Pentax would truly be dead.
But without Hoya, this saving would not be necessary.
  
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